Angry Birds Loses 63 Million Players

A good news, bad news story is reported in Angry Birds has lost 63m players since 2012 (but it still has 200m left). The good news is that Angry Birds still has 200 million players, the bad news is that 63 million players have been lost since 2012. Since Angry Bird's launch in 2009, the Angry Birds games have been downloaded over 2 billion times. Rovio's response is to release new Angry Birds games including Angry Birds Stella, Angry Birds Transformer, Angry Birds Epic, and Angry Birds Go. Rovio is faced with a classic problem of trying to follow-up a huge success.

The Shelby Brand is Alive and Well

The diversity of the Carroll Shelby brand is presented in Carroll Shelby Licensing Inc. Carroll Shelby logos are on  a variety of products including die-cast cars, clothing, video games, and golf carts. You can still purchase a Shelby vehicle at Shelby American. There also is a Shelby Store where you can buy Shelby Parts, apparel, and merchandise.The popularity of Shelby vehicles was aptly demonstrated in 2007 when a 1966 Shelby Cobra sold for $5.5 million at auction. In 1995 Shelby American opened its new headquarters in Las Vegas. When in Las Vegas, you can take a free guided tour Monday thru Saturday.

Trends in Producing Successful Toys

The article BLE Preview: Toy Stories examines trends in the children's licensing and merchandising business. As reported in the article, sales of licensed entertainment merchandise accounted for $2.66 billion in royalty revenues in the U.S. and Canada. But one difficulty facing those in the licensing and merchandising industry is the reluctance of retailers to work with new, unproven brands. According to Marie-Laure Marchand, "Retailers are looking for sure-fire hits ...". Another aspect in today's marketplace is that "more and more alliances are being formed early-on between retailers and independent producers". These alliances are used to implement a balanced approach where all facets of a new brand are considered including physical and digital products, live events, theme parks, and video games.

Book a 60s Pan-Am Flight to Nowhere

I road a train yesterday to the Los Angeles Union Station. You can't help but think what train travel must have been like in its heyday. A lot more glamorous than today. The same could be said for air travel. Now a new attraction, Air Hollywood, let's you experience 60s' air travel, see - Pan Am Experience: Vintage airline meals in 747 from the 60s. You don't go anywhere, but board a restored 747, and enjoy a dinner and movie like you would have 50 years ago. Flight attendants dress as they would have back then, and passengers are encouraged to do likewise. At the end of the "flight" passengers can shop for Pan-Am memorabilia and licensed merchandise.

Ford's Mustang Pony Gets a New Life

What is more iconic that the Ford Mustang logo? Yet Ford has decided to redesign the logo as revealed in Pop Artist Burton Morris redesigns Mustang logo as part of Ford's #mustangunite campaign. As part of the celebration of the Mustang's 50 year history, pop artist Burton Morris is redesigning the famous pony logo. Actually there will be 10 Mustang pony emblems each decorated with the flag of one of 10 countries. Check them out, they are really cool.

The Lion King Conquers The Phantom of the Opera

Here's a surprise.  'The Lion King' earns all-time box office record. With gross revenue over $6.2 billion "The Lion King" is now the most successful box office ticket of all time. "The Lion King" recently surpassed "The Phantom of the Opera". The article notes that "The Lion King" brought in more revenue than any single Harry Potter film, the movie "Titanic", or any of the "Star Wars" movies. These comparisons do not include sales of posters or CDs and other merchandise.

Girl Scout Cookie Beer?

The Girl Scouts license more than cookies as detailed in Girl Scout Cookie Nesquik Will Help You Survive Until Girl Scout Cookie Season. The Girl Scout flavored milk comes in several flavors including Thin Mints and Caramel Coconut. Other Girl Scout licensed products are: Girl Scout Cookie Crunch Bars, Girl Scout Cookie Lip Smackers, Girl Scout Cookie Coffee-Mate, Girl Scout Cookie Bryers Ice Cream, and Girl Scout Cookie Beer. Hold on a minute! That last one is not true. A San Francisco brewery has created Girl Scout Cookie Inspired Beers, but they are definitely not officially-licensed. Too bad.

Can't Afford a Porsche? Get a Porsche Design BlackBerry.

The article Why Is Porsche Still Putting Its Name on BlackBerrys? poses a good question. Before answering that question, another question comes to mind. Why did Porsche put it's name on a BlackBerry in the first place? The article's author, Kyle Stock, tries to answer both questions. He explores different co-branding examples, and gives Aston Martin and Jaguar high marks for their efforts. By the way, you can get a Ferrari Surfboard for only $1,700 (shipping expenses, sales taxes and custom duties not included).

Authorized Merchandise from Top Music Acts Now Available with Merchbar

Merchbar Launches with Curated Merchandise From 3000+ Top Music Acts. The Merchbar iPhone app offers licensed merchandise from over 3000 top music acts, including The Beatles, David Bowie, The B52s and Beck. There are over 100,000 items of officially licensed merchandise. They even have Bob Marley and Elvis.

NFL Player Endorsements Can Easily Be Pursued by Brands, Large and Small

See how Robert Griffin III approves endorsements on his smartphone in the article How NFL Players Are Winning the Game for Micro Endorsements. The NFL players association launched a website Activate  that enables players to quickly evaluate endorsement opportunities. Now, more than 1,800 NFL players can market themselves to the public. New York punter Steve Weatherford, hardly as well known as Peyton Manning, recently signed a sponsorship deal. Small brands benefit by being able to register on Activate and pursue opportunities with NFL players.

TV Shows Sell Millions in Licensed Merchandise

As reported in Scandal’ Inspires Clothing Line at The Limited another TV show has led to a new line of licensed merchandise. The Scandal ABC drama will return for its fourth season on Sept. 25th. A collection of clothing based on Scandal is being introduced by The Limited. The article notes that series like Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones have generated an estimated $100 million a year in retail sales.  A popular children show can generate $250 to $500 million in retail sales.

Will There be a Judge Judy Online Store?

Orange is the New Black is a comedy-drama series first released on Netflix on July 11, 2013. An online store now exists for the series as reported in An official online store has opened for Orange is the new Black. The store is found at Orange Is The New Black. The site offers apparel, media, and accessories. Makes you wonder just how prevalent this development will become. Will we see online stores for other popular TV shows? Seems like a golden opportunity.

Microsoft to Sell Bed Sheets?

Do you suppose Bill Gates ever intended for Microsoft to get into selling bed sheets? It could happen. Microsoft may be purchasing Mojang as reported in Report: Microsoft makes $2 billion offer for 'Minecraft' studio Mojang . Mojang created the Minecraft game that has sold over 50 million copies. Of course, this it what Microsoft is after. But Minecraft has innumerable licensed products including bed sheets, t-shirts, action figures, and foam swords. So probably without intending it, Microsoft will find itself benefiting from the sale of all sorts of licensed merchandise.

Movies Move Merchandise

Lego has become the biggest toy company in the world as reported in  How Can Mattel, Inc. And Other Toymakers Beat Lego?. Lego got a huge boost with the release of The Lego Movie. Mattel, on the other hand, had a 7 percent decline in the first half of this year. Not surprisingly, Sony Pictures and Mattel announced a Barbie live-action movie. Barbie will play a Mary Poppins-like character. Can Mattel replicate the success of the Frozen movie?

Will China Be the Same After the Simpsons Arrive?

The Simpsons are on their way to China, see -  'The Simpsons' Gets "First Official China-Based Home". The show will be subtitled in Mandarin. That should be interesting. Imagine trying to translate the many vulgarities and double entendres. It would be fun to have the mandarin translation translated back into English. I'm not sure you would have any idea what they were talking about.

How to Catapult a Brand to Superstardom

The title of the article Create a brand new world with packaging does not do justice to the article's content. Unless the term 'packaging' includes the overall brand storytelling and marketing. It's much more than the physical packaging. The author, Ted Mininni, presents a compelling argument for inviting customers to become co-creators of a brand's story, so that they become immersed in their favorite properties. Think Star Wars, Disney Princesses, Hasbro Transformers, and the NFL. Lego is presented as a case study in how to do things the right way. An extremely interesting article.

JCPenney Seeks to Become a Major Player in Sports Merchandising

Numerous articles in recent years have chronicled JCPenney's troubles. Although recently they seem to be doing better. Today JCPenney branched out in a new direction as reported in JCP Targets Sports Fans With New E-Shop. JCPenney partnered with Fanatics the largest online retailer of officially licensed sports merchandise. The new JCPenney website is called the Sports Fan Shop. Over 300,000 licensed products from all major sports are found on the website. I've always liked JCPenney. I wish them well.

Hello Kitty is a Third Grade English Girl. Say What?

I'll bet you think Hello Kitty is a cat. I sure did. But Sanrio says Hello Kitty is an English third grade girl named Kitty White as explained in Hello Kitty Is Not a Cat; Can We Live in Such a World?. In fact, Hello Kitty has her own pet cat named Charmmy Kitty. I'm like the grandfather in the movie Moonstruck, I'm Confused.